Chapter 05: The Kloden Wildwood
Lupus | vehicles = Medium Imperial Tank x 1 AT Cannon x 2 | officers = Scout Leader x 3 Shockrooper Leader x 3 Medium Imperial Tank x 1 | aces = Lt. Nonnenkof | ace drop = ZM MP 2(g) }} Chapter 05: The Kloden Wildwood, also known as the Battle of Kloden Forest, is the fifth chapter of Valkyria Chronicles. The combat mission in this Chapter is called Wildwood Warfare at Kloden. Story After retaking the Great Vasel Bridge, the Gallian Army began their counter offensive against Imperial forces and start moving into central Gallia. To support the efforts of the regular army, the militia is tasked with taking control of the main Imperial supply base in southern Gallia located in the forest of Kloden. After the briefing with Captain Varrot, Faldio confesses his unease regarding the upcoming mission within the confines of the dense forest. Welkin offers Faldio some encouragement, stating that nature can be harsh, but that it also provides hints on how to work with the environment, making it a potentially powerful ally. Sensing the wisdom behind his advice, Faldio agrees to take Welkin's words into consideration. As Faldio had anticipated, the slow and difficult trek through the dense forest began to affect the overall morale of the militia. Welkin, on the other hand, appeared untroubled by the long hike, frequently crouching to examine the forest floor, which attracts disparaging looks from Rosie and Largo. Alicia, worried that Welkins actions were having a negative effect on the troops, tries to confront him but she is abruptly shrugged off as he passes her a handfull of black pellets which he soon after reveals to be animal droppings, much to Alicia's disgust. Welkin's keen eye is not wasted however as he reveals to the squad that he had successfully discovered an animal trail which they could use to navigate through the thick forest allowing a squad to successfully flank the Imperial base while the main force assault the base head on. While travelling along the trail, Alicia and Rosie speak briefly about their lives before the war only to be interrupted by a lost Porcavian piglet. After a brief search of the area Welkin finds the piglet's mother, another victim of the war. Alicia seems visibly upset at the discovery until Welkin offers to adopt the piglet as Squad 7's mascot stating that every Gallian has the right to join the milita. Topography The map is a large forested area, it is much longer than the previous maps and will take far longer to traverse by your infantry. To the far east is the main Imperial supply base which is the target of the mission to the north and south west is your deployment zone. The Edelweiss is deployed along a dirt track which cuts through the forest into the enemy forward base and then continues on to the main depot over the brow of a low hill. Running along the south of the road is a high cliff on which the defenders have mounted static guns and to the north of it is yet another forward outpost where another static gun is positioned looking out over the road, beyond this is a narrow trail leading to the supply base which is guarded by infantry. Landmarks and Street Names *1st Garrison *2nd Garrison *Forestbund Marsh *North Kloden Plateau *North Kloden Road *North Kloden Supply Base *Old Path *(Path) to Imperial Alliance Here is a brief on the task at hand "Here is a brief on the task at hand. The enemy's supply base is located at the east end of these woods, tucked behind a tight defensive line. Your squad will sweep in and attack from the west to capture it and cut off their lifeline. I suggest you hit the base head-on with your tank while foot soldiers take the north path behind the enemy's back. Your objective is the occupation of the enemy's base camp. Tread carefully. I suspect they've planted mines all across the area leading up to the base. You should be able to see them, but be careful. Accidentally stepping on one will mean major damage. An engineer can dismantle a land mine by approaching it and pressing the OK button when the command appears. Also remember that a tank can roll over land mines without sustaining damage. That's another way to clear the road. Conversely, foot soldiers can walk on the larger anti-tank mines unharmed, but a tank will take tread damage. We've heard word that enemy backup is approaching even now. Get out there and claim that base, fast." 'Mission objectives' Victory *The enemy base camp is captured Failure *Welkin dies *The enemy occupies Gallia's base camp *All ally soldiers and reserves are killed *20 turns pass "Now, let's begin the operation. I'm confident victory is within reach." Strategy *Before the mission starts, ensure that you have visited the headquarters and spent the Exp and Ducats earned in the previous mission. Equip your troops and armored vehicles with the latest weapons and upgrades. *Deploy a mixed force including your three leader units Alicia, Largo and Rosie. Ensure you deploy your two best shocktroopers, one to the north and the other to the south and your favourite lancer who should be positioned along the main road. *The troops in the northern deployment zone should advance into the small camp adjacent to their starting point (while taking care to avoid the anti-personel mines in the area) and take out the Imperial fixed gun, this will allow the Edelweiss and troops deployed along the road to take up positions to assault the Imperial checkpoint. *Be sure to back up your tank with infantry as the enemy checkpoint is manned by two lancers and a medium tank, it is possible to divert your forces in the north to ambush the troopers at the checkpoint before moving your tank through it to clean up as you only really need one good Shocktrooper to flank the enemy and sneak into the main supply depot. *As you advance towards the main depot along the northern path, be sure to take defeat Lt. Nonnenkof. He has very high evasion and damaging intercept fire so be careful as you approach him, he is armed with the ZM MP 2, which is your reward for defeating him. *Be aware of the fixed guns atop of the cliff to the south past the checkpoints covering the road before you roll the Edelweiss into the supply depot. A shocktrooper should be able to take them out by flanking their position. *Push your flanking force into the supply depot through the northern gate, as soon as you enter General Radi Jaeger and a number of reinfocements will arrive with a short cutscene. Jager comes with his tank Lupus and it serves as the first real boss of the game. *Luckily you don't have to defeat Jager and his uber-tank, your objective remains to capture the enemy base, thus the remainder of the mission turns into a pseudo-puzzle stage where you must get your infantry around the boss using the cover of the warehouses and capture the enemies main base, which is only defended by a handful of infantry. *If you are feeling adventurous it is possible to defeat the Lupus in this stage, as you'd expect it is very heavily armoured (3,200 Body HP, Body Def 600) and its main gun packs quite a wallop, its radiator is also considerably smaller than average and only gives a critical multiplier of 1.5 rather than the usual 10 for enemy tanks. It withdraws from battle if it takes 50% damage. However, this does not count for anything in the final mission results (not even a tank kill): all it will do is make all enemies immediately withdraw. A Rank strategy For the A rank, the player has four turns, and the mission is easily beaten in three: the most important thing to ensure a smooth victory is making sure the mission is won on the same turn that the Gallian forces enter the enemy's main base camp. The Northern force is the only one that matters: it will require an Engineer, a Shocktrooper and 2 Scouts. It is a good idea for at least the Shocktrooper and Scout to be friends, since this makes clearing out the base flag at the end of the mission easier. The only other deployments that matter are the CP characters. Start by controlling the Engineer and move them East along the trail: there is a mine along the way, but the engineer can defuse it: even standing on it is ok since anti-personnel mines in this game have pressure-release triggers and only explode if a character steps off them. They will soon come across a small base, and should target the enemy Leader in the base and end their turn facing the path East. Following this, move up the Scout, destroy the fixed gun and capture the base flag. End the Scout's turn facing East too. Finally, bring up the Shocktrooper and the second scout, stop with them also facing East, and end the turn to conserve CP. The enemy is unlikely to do anything much except shuffle troops around, but will always move a Shocktrooper up the path: however, they will instantly end their turn when they encounter interception fire from the 4 Gallian soldiers. On turn 2, the player should first control the Scout and take care of the Shocktrooper up the path, then move forward. Watch out for a mine on the path ahead, and note there is another Shocktrooper hiding around the bend, so end the Scout's turn before reaching him. Bring up the Shocktrooper to kill him, pull up the Engineer to defuse the mine and the second mine further ahead, then control the Scout again and move them towards the base perimeter. Over a small hill on the right it will be possible to see another Shocktrooper: either throw a grenade at him or shoot him in the head. Move up all three soldiers so they are ready to enter the base next turn, then move the Scout right up against the fence with the enemy Shocktrooper (the Ace) behind it and end the turn. In New Game +, they can instead attack him with a rifle grenade at this point. There will be more shuffling of enemy forces, which should always include the Ace moving from by the fence to the sandbags South of him. Assuming he does this, the player should save at the start of their next turn. The idea now is to move the Scout up to throw a grenade at the Ace before he kills them, then immediately end their turn and pull up the Shocktrooper to finish him off with gunfire. After this, move the Shocktrooper towards the crates straight ahead of where they entered the base. Control them again, throw a grenade at the boxes to destroy them, and move towards the alley. Control the Engineer next. They should move forwards to re-arm and heal the Scout, then keep going to re-arm the Shocktrooper, ending their turn with a line of sight to the enemy base flag so they can offer supporting fire. The Shocktrooper should then move up and throw their grenade at the soldier crouching behind the sandbag wall, followed by the Scout throwing theirs at the two black-clad enemies near the base flag.With some luck, it is possible for the grenade explosion to throw the latter two far enough that the base counts as unoccupied, but it is best to be sure: control the Shocktrooper to gun them down with the Scout and Engineer's assistance, as this will preserve the Scout's Action Points to allow them to capture the base flag. Rewards Aftermath Squad 7's assault on the enemy supply base progresses to plan until reinforcments lead by General Jaeger arrive supported by tanks including the Lupus. With his overwhelming tactical prowess, General Jaeger is able to disorientate the militia long enough to organize a the full evacuation of the base, successfully minimizing the losses suffered by the Imperial army. Though the militia's mission was a success, by the time the base was brought under Gallian control most of the supplies previously stored there had already been evacuated and though the enemy supply line was effectively blocked, the failure to capture war materials and enemy equipment lessened the blow against the Imperial invaders. Inside the supply depot Cpt. Varrot congratulates Welkin on his victory. Alicia agrees, declaring "Another victory for Welkin Gunther!". Welkin humbly objects, stating that the victory was due, in large part, to the animals of the wood and introduces the Squad's newest recruit, Hans, to the captain, who salutes Hans, jesting that she expects great things from him and the rest of Squad 7. Notes/Trivia *Despite being avoidable, the Lupus is the first real boss in the game. Be careful if you decide to try and defeat it as its heavy armour and powerful main gun make it a formidable opponent. Category:Valkyria Chronicles Missions Category:Valkyria Chronicles